Hard Rock Hotel Orlando Review

Nestled between the Universal Studios park and City Walk sits the coolest and some say ‘hippest’ of the three Universal Orlando Resort’s Loews Hotels; The Hard Rock Hotel Orlando seated away from the hubbub and buzz of the theme parks, located almost where the original Hard Rock Café once proudly lay, this quiet California mission style facade hotel hides a welcoming and pleasant stay.

Modern design meets great comfort

The hotel is advertised as cool and quite frankly it can rightly declare it’s cool credentials. It has underwater speakers in the pool, each room has the best and some might say most chilled of mini-bars, a ‘banging’ niche music club and after all any hotel that holds the holy grail of showcasing actual suits worn by the great king of rock-n-roll, can’t not be cool, right?  Which you could be forgiven for thinking you’re actually in a Vegas hotel with the showcase of memorabilla and luxury rock-n-roll surroundings.

Velvet Bar entrance

Well yes the hotel is cool and upbeat but don’t let that put off those of you whom might wish to have a quite stay.  The rooms are particularly comfortable.  Rooms have soft carpets, plenty of table space, very new entertainment systems with speakers everywhere (!), exceedingly good mattresses and very stylish bathrooms.  Rock-n-roll meets high-class luxury linen sheets me thinks.

In-room wall-mounted Beatles photos

Nightly entertainment can be found at the onsite Velvet Sessions Bar.  This neat, personal bar showcases nightly entertain and has had some big names perform in years past.  Other hotel entertainment includes: sandy bottom pool with beach, beach-tiki bar, shops, fine dinning, spa, fitness centre and many more.  The hotel also has dotted around its corridors and lobbies a vast collection of rock and pop memorabilia that is rotated with stored items on a frequent basis.  Items we spotted were from David Bowie, Elvis, the Spice Girls and more recent people like Eminem and 50 Cent (or ‘fiddy as the kids know him by).

Onsite dinning options include The Kitchen and Palm Restaurant, the latter being the finer and more pricey of the two.  Evening meals are a special menu affair whereas breakfast is mostly buffet style.

Front entrance fountain

The pool is a big draw for onsite hotel guests but does have its downsides, namely, it is not very deep and that sand gets everywhere!  The slide is great fun for the little people, being over 250ft in length, rest assured though parents there are marshals and lifeguards on-hand all day.  The poolside bar is a quite draw and offers up a mixed menu of snacks, soft drinks and Del-Boy-esque cocktails.

Bad points: Pet friendly rooms and smoking rooms are best avoided, some rooms are a fair walk from the available lifts, the pool is very shallow in areas, not a great deal of food choice and the best entertainment can be found at the Hard Rock Live Theatre at the HRC at City Walk (Jamie Cullum, Backstreet Boys and Joan Rivers confirmed for 2010 no less!).

Good points: All hotels guests can still use their room keys as fast passes for the theme parks during the day, ultra comfortable beds and pillows, great in-room entertainment package for wiry guests who have been theme parking all day, Universal purchased goods delivered to your room and above all, the closest hotel to the Studios; which is a 8 minute walk or a 2 minute rickshaw ride.

I enjoyed my stay here so much; I am booked again for 2010 at club level.  Look out for the club level review very soon.

• Theme – California/Vegas luxury.
• Rooms – 650
• Suites – Kid Suites, King Suites and various others on the club level floors.
• Address – 5800 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL, 32819.
• Phone – 1.888.832.7155

A review by Christopher Ro.